6th Grade
Conley Breshears
When I brought joy to someone else, it made me feel a lot of joy. This is when I was at a wrestling match and I was about 8 years old. This kid on a different team kept on losing and getting killed all the time. He was at my weight. I found out he had a lot of problems in his body. So when I wrestled him, I let him win. He was so excited. I had never felt so much joy inside my body. It felt like my body was on fire. I felt the best ever!

7th Grade
Josey Jacobsen
One time I felt joy is when I was about 8 years old. There was this new girl in my class. It was around Christmastime and snow covered the ground. Anyway, I noticed that she had only one pair of shoes. They were so worn out that there were holes on the bottom of her shoes.
Just like any little girl would do, I went home and told my mom about the new girl and her shoes. Then I asked her if I could give her a pair of my shoes. She said, “Yes”. So I went to my closet and looked at all of my shoes. I decided the best ones were my brand new white pair of DC’s that I hadn’t even worn. I showed my mom and she said, “Are you sure you want to give her those ones?” I said she deserves them. Me and my mom wrapped the present all pretty and put a big red shiny bow on it. The next day I gave the girl the present and told her she could not open it until she got home.
The next day she walked in with the brand new white DC’s. I was overcome with joy and complimented her on her shoes.

8th Grade
Amber Harvey
It was a calm night and my mom informed me and my little brother, Josh, she was going for a run. Josh was re-diagnosed with cancer days before, and he couldn’t play with any of his friends because they could get him sick. My mom left and I knew he would be optimistic about it being just us. I was tired because of my long day at school and when he asked me to play Legos with him, I offered a movie instead. I saw his face sadden a bit, but he quickly got up to pick a movie. Seeing him hop over to the movies with one leg and still sooo much courage and integrity made me realize that I was being selfish. “This kid had been through so many hard times and is fighting so hard to beat cancer even if it means two-week hospital stays and I can’t walk up the stairs and give him some joy?” I thought to myself.
I got up and asked him if he still wanted to play Legos. His expression quickly changed and he headed for the stairs. When we got up there, he started showing me the sets of Legos he had built. He picked up a car he had made and I was so impressed by the way everything was put together. I saw joy in his eyes as he showed me his sets of Legos that he had put together. Seeing that joy in his eyes made me feel good and happy that I brought happiness to someone’s life.